Comments on: Long Range Wifi Cards with Mac OS X?

Question: Long Range Wifi Cards with Mac OS X?

Freen — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 08:36:10 -0800

Wifi Shootout: powerbook g4 PCMCIA: what card and antenna combination will get me the most bang for my buck in terms of range?

I'm looking for that rare, high powered wifi card that has the necessary connectors to attach an external antenna, such as a cantenna, that has functional Mac OS X drivers. Ideally, really badass drivers that let you change power output, antenna diversity, etc.

Also, any ideas on antennas? Is tha cantenna worth it? or are there better, cheaper directional options?

thanks!

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:21:27 -0800

You might try this but I don't know if the driver gives you options to adjust the power levels.

The cantenna looks like a nicely packaged Pringle can; you can make your own.

By: Freen

Freen — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:58:20 -0800

hmm... doesn't look like it's all that high powered... Ideally, a 200mw or 300 mw pcmcia card. They are out there in abundance, I just don't have any clue which ones work with Mac OS X.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 10:10:04 -0800

Try a listed third-party, high-powered card with the open source OS X wireless driver.

By: OldReliable

OldReliable — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 10:52:37 -0800

Blazecock, which of those listed are high-powered and have MMCX connectors?

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 10:54:31 -0800

I don't know, OldReliable, but I also searched Google on "300 mW PC Card" — a few of the results are models with Prism chipsets, which claims compatibility with the OS X wireless driver I linked to.

By: OldReliable

OldReliable — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:00:13 -0800

cool. I have been working on this issue as well.

By: Ferrari328

Ferrari328 — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:05:19 -0800

Orinoco Gold runs at +5 and have an external antenna connector.

By: Freen

Freen — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:31:24 -0800

Ferrari, what do you mean by +5?

By: Ferrari328

Ferrari328 — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:30:17 -0800

Sorry, missed that, meant 5V as opposed to the 3.5V thats fairly common. Better range.